Train cancellations, staff shortages and construction sites - local public transport in Thuringia has its problems. Nevertheless, the 9-euro ticket is a hit, according to an initial assessment by experts.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - The 9-euro ticket, which is still available until the end of August, has boosted demand for local public transport in Thuringia. According to estimates by the State Office for Construction and Transport, in the area of regional rail transport, the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure announced on request in Erfurt. Passengers are even more interested in buses and trams.
The municipal transport companies and regional bus companies that form the Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen (VMT) sold around 148,000 9-euro tickets at the start in June alone. This number does not include the regular subscriptions that have been converted to 9-euro tickets. In comparison, only 40,000 regular subscriptions were ordered in May 2022. According to the VMT, reliable data for July will not be available until the end of August.
According to the Ministry, in local rail transport, the run was particularly large on international connections such as Nuremberg-Jena-Leipzig, Erfurt-Würzburg, Erfurt-Göttingen, Leipzig-Gera-Hof, Nordhausen-Halle or Erfurt-Kassel. With money from the state treasury, attempts were made to use relief trains on individual, particularly heavily used routes such as Leipzig-Jena-Nuremberg or to provide trains with additional cars. However, problems with additional vehicles and a lack of staff would have prevented a nationwide expansion.
At times, passengers had to stand, could no longer get on due to overcrowding or could not take bicycles with them. Construction sites that were planned before the 9-euro ticket also caused problems.
Thuringia's Transport Minister Susanna Karawanskij (left) had spoken out in favor of not abolishing the 9-euro ticket at the end of August as planned, despite the problems. She pleaded for a follow-up offer and suggested a climate ticket - for example as a year-round 365 euro ticket. In order to achieve the climate protection goals in the transport sector, the strengthening of public transport would have to be promoted - also with more money from the federal government, according to Karawanskij.
